Ties of the Heart
by misscam
Summary: "When I said I trusted you completely and was willing to put myself at your mercy, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind." Snow, Charming and ties that bind. [Snow/Charming]
1. Part One: Charming

Ties of the Heart  
by misscam

Disclaimer: Not my characters, just my words.

Author's Note: For operaballerina, who wanted some Snow/Charming bondage, so here they are, tying each other up. Happy belated birthday, babe! This is in two parts, one for Charming and one for Snow, since I do enjoy the equality of their relationship – so fair's fair.

II

Part One: Charming

II

The few times Charming has found himself tied up or chained up before in his life have always been moments of great danger, sometimes near fatal in fact.

But that was before. This is now. This is his bed, and his headboard that his arms are securely fastened to behind his head. This isn't capture by enemy forces, this is capture by his own wife. (Granted, he is a willing prisoner.) And the danger – the danger might be to his mental stability as Snow straddles him firmly after having checked the knots on her scarves that she's tied him up with.

She smiles at him and he can only watch how the slip she is wearing clings to her curves in a way he wishes his hands could do right now. It's maddening. It doesn't help that she has removed all his clothes except his underwear, and he's now tied up and almost naked and completely at her mercy.

"This isn't quite what I had in mind," he says, swallowing as she places her hands to his chest to steady herself and scrape her nails across his skin at the same time.

"What did you have in mind, Charming?" she asks lightly, the mischievous look in her eyes making him want to kiss her quite badly. Yet he can't reach for her to pull her down for a kiss, or sit up to kiss her where she is.

He might actually prefer the fatal danger, he's starting to think.

"When I said I trusted you completely..."

"After you had been an overprotective idiot," she cuts in.

"Yes," he acknowledges. And he knows it isn't much of a defense that he can't help it where she is concerned, but it is really the only one he has. "After I had been the husband who loves his wife to the point of idiocy and overprotectiveness, yes. But when I said I trusted you completely and was willing to put myself at your mercy, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

"You had in mind some heroic adventure where we'd both be in danger?" she suggests, leaning down to kiss his chest just above his heart.

"Something like that," he says, letting his head fall back against the pillow as she continues kissing a path across his chest.

"We have those all the time anyway," she murmurs, before moving her mouth up to suck lightly on the spot where his shoulder and his neck meet.

"Yes," he acknowledges again, his head turning toward hers instinctively. He wants to kiss her. He really, really wants to kiss her, but he can't. "As I recall, you've been..."

He moans; he can't help it. Her fingers are tracing patterns on his chest and her teeth are lightly scraping his skin before sucking again, and he can do nothing but endure.

"You've been an overprotective idiot concerning me quite a few times we've had adventures," he manages to get out in a rush before moaning softly again.

"Mmm," she says, lifting her head to look at him through lowered eyelids. "Maybe you'll get to tie me up if that ever happens again, then."

Before he can say anything at that (like swearing he'll hold her to that promise), she leans down and kisses him. He meets it as much as his restraints allow, feeling her lips be soft against his. She allows him to tug and then suck lightly at her bottom lip, even moaning at it. He really, really wishes he had his hands free so he could cup her cheek or press her even closer, but he takes what comfort he can get in the pressure of her lips against his.

The cloth of her slip brushes against his bare chest as she rests on top of him and he imagines the sensation of her skin doing the same. He knows what it feels like, after all; he's experienced it many times before. It doesn't stop him from longing for it now, it just makes the longing more so, in fact.

He pulls at his restraints in frustration as she sits up and breaks the kiss. He can see the faint moisture of his mouth cling to her lower lip, and her lips are slightly parted as she breathes. To his credit, her breathing is definitely more labored.

"Snow, please," he says in frustration.

"No," she says simply and he groans. He groans again as she moves off him, the loss of contact increasing his frustration. (Which is already substantial.) She pays him no heed, instead closing her fingers around the cloth of his underwear. Slowly, tantalizingly slowly she pulls down it down, then tosses it without a care into the dark of the room.

For all his frustration he has to admit this is rather turning him on too, seeing Snow like this. He's always loved the strength in her, the commanding presence she can have, and her willingness to fight for what she wants. Now she wants him, and he swallows again. His mouth feels dry as she regards him, a speculative look in her eyes.

She puts a hand on his knee, caressing his skin lightly with her thumb as he watches her helplessly. Then she uses the hand to move his legs apart and sits down between them. His breath quickens as he realizes what she has in mind, and she glances up at him with dark eyes that make his breath catch as well.

"Snow," he pleads, not sure exactly what he's asking for.

Her hand closes on his manhood and his hips move of their own volition, thrusting into the touch. Her mother hand settles on his waist to steady him, and she flashes him a quick smile that makes him even more maddeningly in love with her. He balls his fists and presses his fingers hard into his palms, but it still doesn't stop him from making a noise as she draws a hand across the length of him.

The sensation as she takes him in her mouth is as always indescribable, even if he's had experience with it before. He moans her name helplessly, his head falling back and his eyes closing. He can't help it; he's entirely at her mercy in more ways than one.

Her mouth is warm, so very warm on his flesh. He can feel her tongue as well, adding to the torture. He bucks as she trails her mouth up and down the hardening length of him, and bites down on his lip hard enough to taste blood as she takes him in his mouth again – this time as far as she can manage.

He fights his restraints again, even knowing that it's pointless. He has to do something or he'll go mad. Her hand is pumping him lightly as well, as her tongue circles his flesh and he thinks he might very well go mad.

"Snow," he pleads, hearing the desperation and lust in his own voice quite clearly. "Snow, please, please... _Snow_."

She lifts her head as he opens his eyes to look at her again, but she keeps her hand on him and moving it up and down slowly.

"What do you want, Charming?" she says softly.

"You," he manages, his voice husky. Always her. He always wants her and will for eternity. She knows that; he can see it in her eyes. "Please, Snow."

She nods almost regally, lifting herself up off the mattress. He can only watch as she efficiently tears the slip off herself in one smooth motion. She is wearing nothing else, he notes, swallowing softly. Just Snow and skin and he can't touch, can only gaze at her naked skin with equal amount of pleasure and frustration.

She moves forward, positioning herself with a knee on either side of him. She strokes him one more time as she adjusts his position slightly too, and he can feel himself twitch slightly in anticipation. Then she sinks down on him, sighing softly as she does. The noise he makes is far more undignified, but the sensation of it is so good and so familiar he can't help it. Snow, oh Snow, everything he wants and everything he can never get enough of at the same time.

She holds still as he breathes. He can see the flush in her cheeks and the hazy desire in her eyes, but she still doesn't move. He strains against the scarves keeping him tied up, but Snow knows very well what she is doing with knots, he realizes.

"Snow," he pleads again. "Please let me loose, let me... I need to touch you, I need to..."

She clenches her muscles around him in response and he curses, lifting himself as far as the restraints allow.

"Snow," he says breathlessly. He thrusts his hips against her and she does moan at the friction, but she continues to remain still. "_Please._"

Just when he thinks he's going to go genuinely mad instead of just mad for Snow, she moves. Her eyes close as she lifts herself up, then sinks down again. Her face is bright with pleasure, and her lips part as she makes a series of noises that causes his pleasure and frustration alike to mount.

"Snow," he gasps and she focuses on him. "I want to touch you."

"Here?" she asks, lowering her own hand between them. He can only watch as she touches herself, panting a little as she does.

"Yes," he says helplessly. His nails feel sharp as they dig further into his palms. "I want to... There, and everywhere else, Snow, please, please let me touch you."

She leans down, her breasts brushing his chest as she moves her hands to his hands. For a moment he thinks she is actually going to free him, but no. She merely traces his arms with her palm, feeling the tension and strain in them.

"Snow," he says again, helplessly. She kisses him then, parting her lips and letting him have her mouth while she moves lightly. He thrusts in return as much as he can, feeling the reward of her soft moans and gasps into his kiss. The angle of this position seems to give her pleasure, at least, as she keeps moving. He does as much as he can with the kiss too, sucking at her bottom lip and brushing his tongue against hers, and changing between encasing her mouth with his and pressing light kisses along her lips before deepening it again. He changes the angle every so often too, at least as much as he can.

"Charming," she whispers against his lips, her breath ragged. "What do you want?"

He wants to draw his hands along the arch in her back, wants to lower his mouth to her breasts, wants to press her into the mattress and thrust into her in long, languid strokes, wants lock her hands above her head with one hand and use the other to caress her between their bodies, wants, wants, wants... He wants so much and he doesn't have the breath to say it all, he knows.

"Untie me," he murmurs hoarsely, kissing the heat in her cheeks. "I want you."

"Do you?" she teases, and he bucks his hips underneath her to show her that yes, he wants her to the point of desperation.

"Snow," he moans softly and she licks her lips slightly. "Snow, please..."

"I have _you_," she says possessively. She sure does, he knows. She doesn't have to tie him up in bed to have him tied to her. He's held by her by something far stronger than scarves – the ties between hearts. The strongest tie in the world.

"You have me," he acknowledges. At that, she clenches her muscles around him again, and he feels dizzy with the desire and the pleasure and the frustration, all mingled and fighting and feeding into each other. "_Snow._"

She loves how he says her name like that, he can tell from how her lips part and he takes the opportunity to kiss her again. She moves again, using her own hand where he would as well, and then amazingly he can feel her body shudder as she climaxes. That is enough to push him over too, and his head falls backwards as he feels everything and nothing all at once.

She nestles against him as they both draw slow, shuddering breaths. He turns his head so that it is close to hers, feeling her breath across his skin. Even with the orgasm he just had, that still sparks a touch of desire in him.

"Now will you untie me?" he asks softly, as she rubs her nose against his affectionately.

"Can't," she murmurs, putting her thumb on his lip before he can protest. "I tied the knots too well. I'll have to cut you free."

How just like Snow, he thinks. So he chuckles at that, and she laughs, and he thinks it the loveliest sound in the world. She kisses him softly and apologetically before pushing herself off the bed, and he gets to watch her walk naked and unashamed through their chamber. He rather enjoys that sight, already planning what to do to every single inch of her skin the moment he can.

She finds a dagger in one of her boots (it's Snow, so he's not surprised), walking back to the bed and sitting down on the side of it. She regards him as he looks at her, and this time it is she who swallows at the look in his eyes.

"What are you going to do once I cut you loose?" she asks, biting down on her lower lip in that way she does. It's going to be his teeth doing that soon, he decides.

"Touch you," he says huskily. "Kiss you. Make love to you."

"Not tie me up?"

"No," he says, and he isn't sure if the look flashing across her face is relief or disappointment. "Not this time. It will be after you've been an overprotective idiot concerning me. I'll hold you to that."

"Oh," she says breathlessly, then lifts the dagger and mercifully cuts him free. The moment the restraints are gone, she places the dagger on the night stand and he pulls her against him. Before she can say anything, he is kissing her and flipping her underneath him. His hands eagerly roam her body as he presses her into the mattress, finally touching what he could only look at before.

"That was cruel, Snow," he says affectionately. Her lips curve into a teasing smile, one that becomes her very well but he still can't wait to kiss off her. "One day you'll know just how cruel."

"Is that a promise, Charming?" she asks, her lips parting soundlessly as he lowers his hand and cups his palm against her.

"Count on it," he says firmly, watching her face flush with pleasure again. "Now, about what I want..."

"Yes?" she gasps, arching into him as much as she can.

"I'm going to have to show you," he says, dipping his head down and kissing her lazily. Yes. He's very definitely going to have to show her, and take his time doing so as well.

As for tying her up and getting even, that will wait until she acts of much as an overprotective idiot as he did today – he knows it will happen sooner or later. And then, then she'll learn. Oh, she'll learn.

He is rather looking forward to teaching her, in fact.

II


	2. Part Two: Snow

II

Part Two: Snow

II

Fair's fair, Snow knows. She did tie Charming up, and she did say he would get to do the same if she ever was an overprotective idiot. She did say that, so sure she would be far better at hiding her protective instincts towards her husband than he could hide his towards her.

But that was before the ogre.

And now, now her husband is carefully tying silk scarves around her hands while she sits on his lap and he sits on the bed, and he pauses now and then to kiss her far too fleetingly for her taste.

She really, really, really shouldn't have whistled at the ogre to get it to attack her instead, she reflects. Or at least she shouldn't have done it with both ogres.

"Charming," she says softly as he fastens the last knot, leaving enough off the end to tie her to the headboard should he wish to, she notes.

"Snow," he replies, taking her tied hands in his before looking at her. The look in his eyes makes her breath catch, the desire in it so plain. She shivers, though that might also be due to the fact that he has already removed all of her clothing. He's kept his own on, to her frustration, the cotton of his shirt not nearly as soft against her skin as she imagines his skin would be.

He must catch something in her eye, because he tilts his head. "Do you want to do this, Snow? Nevermind this if you..."

"I want to do this," she says, finding her voice. Yes. She does want this, does want the equality, wants them to be tied together in being tied up as well. "Fair's fair. I did it to you. I... I trust you, Charming."

He nods, kissing her softly and caressing her tied wrists before pressing a kiss to them as well.

"I love you," he says, and she sees that too in his eyes. That's always there, always plain to see, and she never tires of seeing it. "Even when you are an overprotective idiot taking on two ogres."

"I was not..." she starts, and then her tied hands are pressed against his chest as he presses her body against his and kisses her firmly. His teeth scrape her bottom lip before he sucks on it, and when the kiss grows even more insistent she parts her lips and feels the warmth of his mouth.

She's just starting to feel breathless and her lips wonderfully heavy when he abruptly pulls back and she makes a half-moan in protest.

"You were an overprotective idiot," he says decisively, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I had the ogre under control both times. You knew that. You just couldn't help yourself anyway. And because of that, you're now tied up in my lap, at my mercy."

She looks at him, feeling his hands move down her back. "What do you plan to do about that?"

He smiles, a teasing, mischievous grin as one hand moves underneath her knees and the other stays at her back. Gently, he lifts her up and positions her on the bed. He puts a pillow under her head, caressing her hands as he lifts them above her head and fastens her to the headboard. She can see his tongue between his lips as he works the knots, and she finds herself wishing she could feel his tongue between her lips.

After he finishes, he lies down next to her in bed, propping his head up on an elbow. His gaze travels across her body, and she swallows at the expression on his face. It's strangely intent as well as desirous, Charming set on a mission.

"I'm going to touch you," he says, voice husky and low. "I'm going to use my hands to explore every inch of your skin. I'm going to kiss you here..." he puts a finger to her lips, smiling with amusement as she takes the opportunity to suck on his fingertip.

"Here," he says, lifting his finger to draw it across her earlobe and down her neck, settling on a spot by her collarbone.

"Here," he continues, moving his finger to touch one nipple, then the other. He watches her chest rise and fall, probably noticing that her breath has become more shallow.

"Here," he says, drawing a line with his finger down her stomach and to the top of her thigh.

She closes her eyes, imagining him doing all those things. His warm mouth on her skin, his tongue circling a sensitive spot every time he pauses... Yes. Oh yes. She can imagine that well enough to hear herself moan softly.

"Definitely here," he says, and her breath catches as he puts his finger ever so lightly between her legs. "I think I will have to kiss, and suck, and nibble... Right here."

She parts her lips at the touch of his finger, so featherlight and teasing. Oh. Oh, oh, oh, and then it's gone and she opens her eyes to see him grin at her.

"Definitely," he says huskily, and her mouth feels dry as she nods soundlessly. "And then..."

His gaze travels her body again, and he lowers a hand to her hip. She watches as he draws his thumb across her hipbone.

"Then I'm going to turn you on your side," he says, his voice now barely a husky whisper. "Facing me so I can kiss you, so I can watch you pant, so I can watch you moan my name when I do this."

She gasps as his whole hand slips between her thighs, pressing down firmly for an all too brief second before pulling away again.

"And when you've come again," he goes on, and she closes her eyes in frustration and anticipation both. "Then I'm going to make love to you just as slowly as I want and you never let me."

She feels his hand on her cheek, cupping and caressing as she opens her eyes. She presses herself against him as much as she can with the restraints, even if it doesn't do all that much good when he's still fully clothed.

"That, Snow, is what I'm going to do to you," he says, his breath catching slightly as well.

"Charming," she says breathlessly, kissing him. He allows it for a moment, even parting his lips to let her tongue brush his before pulling back. She groans in frustration, but he simply smiles.

"No," he says. "Touching first, remember?"

With that, he brushes his fingers across her cheek one more time, then draws his fingers down her nose. The curve of her lips is next, while his other hand move across her ear. Before she can react, he lowers his mouth to her other ear and she can feel his tongue trace the lines and circles of her ear.

"You didn't mention this," she manages to say.

His breath is hot against her ear as he replies. "That was a rough outline. I reserve the right to improvise."

That's really not fair, she decides, as he sucks on her earlobe and his palm traces the curve of her shoulder at the same time. He's got her all hot and bothered detailing his plan and now she is getting hot and bothered wondering what improvisations might occur also.

He finally lifts his head as he moves his hands to the top of her breasts. He watches them move as she breathes, probably noticing her nipples have already hardened from everything else he's been doing. He draws a teasing circle just around the nipple with a thumb, and she bites down on her lip. She's not going to beg. She's not going to...

He does the same again, the bastard, and she's just about to protest when he dips his head down and kisses her again. Leisurely this time, almost nipping at her lips and it's not enough, he knows it's not enough.

She moans his name as his hand cups her breast and his thumb finally brushes her nipple. His kiss deepens too, slanting his mouth across hers. As his hand moves to the other breast to give it the same treatment, she sighs into the kiss.

She lifts a leg and brushes it against him, feeling a very definite bulge in his leather pants as she does.

"Snow," he murmurs hoarsely against her lips. "My wonderful, impatient Snow. Not yet."

With that, he moves off her and she groans in frustration at the lack of contact. He sits up, moving his hand across her abdomen and then following the lines of her still lifted foot. She holds her breath waiting for his hand to move between her legs, but no. He traces the length of her foot instead, finally resting on her ankle.

"Snow," he says again, so much love in his voice. "Close your eyes."

"What?" she murmurs in confusion.

"Close your eyes," he says again.

She breathes; then she does as he says. She closes her eyes and hears him stand up and let go of her foot. She keeps them closed as she hears faint noises. The rustling of clothes, she realizes. He's getting undressed and she's not allowed to look.

"Charming," she says breathlessly. She swallows, trying again. "Charming."

"Wait," he simply says. She feels the bed sag by her feet as he climbs into it there, using his hands to move her legs further apart. His hands are warm as they settle on her hips, holding her down.

She knows what's coming. Even so, the first touch as he flicks his tongue just there makes her give out a strangled noise. Charming pays that no heed, and she can only pant and moan as his mouth is warm on her flesh and his tongue is circling, and oh, oh, oh...

"Charming!" she pleads, no longer caring that she's pleading and begging. "Please, please..."

He lowers his hand in response to that, pressing two fingers into her while continuing to do exactly what he told her he would do. (Granted, a bit out of order, she remembers, but she has no breath to complain.)

When she feels the pressure of his teeth ever so slightly, and his thumb pressing down, she arches helplessly as far as her restraints will allow – and then It is like falling, and she falls back against the mattress too.

She's vaguely aware of Charming moving again, coming to lie next to her. Her eyelids feel heavy just like her limbs, so she simply keeps them closed while her mind stops spinning.

She can feel his mouth close around one of her breasts, his tongue circling her nipple. She arches into it as much as she has the strength to as he continues lazily, as if he has all the time in the world. As she watches him through lowered eyelids, she can see that he has indeed removed his clothing.

She sighs as he moves to the other breast, wishing she could lace her fingers in his hair. Begging him to untie her is probably pointless, as he's not done with his outline and she certainly didn't untie him when he begged.

Fair's fair, she supposes, and still groans in frustration at it.

He's smiling as he moves his mouth up to her neck, sucking on that spot by her collarbone that she remembers his finger touching. She moans as he bites, then turns her head blindly toward his.

"Not yet," he murmurs against her skin as she tries to kiss him and only reaches his cheek. "Wait, Snow."

"Don't want to wait," she murmurs. "Want you. Charming, please..."

He chuckles, giving her a hard, brief kiss before lifting his hands to hers and cursing softly while he tries to untie her from the headboard.

"Dagger under the pillow," she murmurs, taking the opportunity of his position to kiss his neck.

"Of course there is," he murmurs in return, sighing softly as her open mouth moves across his skin. "Snow..."

With an impatient groan, he reaches under the pillow and finds the dagger. In a swift motion, he cuts her free from the headboard, though her hands are still tied together. She turns towards him the moment she can, and he lowers a hand to her hip and steadies her so that she's lying on her side facing him.

Before he gets any ideas about tying her to the headboard again in this position, she lowers her hands and pushes them behind his neck. With his head between her tied arms like this, she can pull him against her and kiss him again.

"That's cheating," he murmurs affectionately, rubbing his nose against hers.

"Room to improvise," she counters, kissing him again. She can feel his lips curved into a smile as she caresses them with her own, and he makes no move to stop her.

That's because he's taking the opportunity to move his hands, she realizes. One is settling on her lower back to press her against him, the other moving her leg to rest across his thigh. He's hard too, she can feel against her stomach, and for a moment she thinks he's changing his outline yet again.

But no. His hand on her lower back lingers to keep her firmly in place, and his other hand moves between her thighs. The noise she makes is swallowed by his kiss, and it's definitely him kissing her now. With his fingers moving so very slowly inside her, all her strength seems to be going to the waves of pleasure threatening to pull her adrift again.

Her eyes close as Charming breaks the kiss, but her tied hands behind his neck means he's still close enough that she can feel his breath.

"Look at me," he says, and it takes almost all her strength to will her eyes open.

"Charming..." she says weakly.

"_Yes_," he says. She can hear the possessive lilt in his voice. He takes pleasure in the name she gave him, she knows. Her name for him. Yet another thing tying them together, yet another bond. They have so many now she imagines it is quite a knot, one she cannot and will not imagine becoming undone.

His eyes are bright as he watches her pant, her breath starting to catch as the pleasure builds and builds. She can see a faint flush in his cheeks as well as he watches her, his tongue coming out between his lips again.

"Snow," he says huskily.

She has no breath to answer him as her mind seems to hold on by what feels like her mental fingertips, and he grins at that. His hand on her hip moves upwards and she has no breath to ask him what improvisation he has in mind now either.

She knows soon enough as he firmly cups her breast, then lowers his mouth onto the other and presses his thumb between her legs hard against the most sensitive spot in her entire body.

She thinks she might actually hiss at that. She isn't sure as her hold slips, the wave crashes over and drowns her and everything is bright, painful pleasure. She can hear Charming say her name softly, beckoning her back and she manages to focus on his face.

He just waits as her breath calms, watching her lovingly and pressing his forehead against hers.

"Untie me," she whispers, thinking about running her hands down his body, the body she can feel against hers but that's not enough.

"No," he murmurs huskily, watching her lip her lips intently. "One more thing to do."

His outline, she remembers distantly. Right. She can feel him still hard against her stomach, reminding her what the last item on the agenda was.

Gently, he eases her tied hands above his head and lowers them again between them. This at least allows her to touch his chest with her fingers, making small circles across his skin as her bonds allow. He kisses her wrists lovingly, then caresses with his fingers and seems to check that they aren't hurting either.

"I love you," she whispers, and he lifts his gaze to her face.

"Yes," he agrees softly after a moment, brushing his lips against hers. She sighs happily as he caresses her neck gently, feeling warm and sated and almost dizzy, as if she's been lying in the summer sun too long.

She can feel his hands stroke her skin as he adjusts her position slightly, moving her leg higher up on his thigh and then shifting his own body to get the angle better. She bites down on his lip as he slides into her agonizingly slowly, but he just chuckles into the kiss.

"Slowly, remember?" he murmurs, kissing her again. She doesn't need reminding, truth be told, but doesn't mean she's going to make it easy for him. No, she's very definitely not, she decides, using her inner muscles to make him groan.

He's still tantalizingly slow despite her best efforts, she finds. He thrusts almost leisurely, letting his hands roam her body as he moves, making it all the more frustrating that her hands are tied and she can't. When she tries to move her hands together downwards, he simply catches her wrists with a hand and keeps them pressed against his chest.

"Charming," she protests, but he pays that about as much heed as she did his pleas. Fair's fair, she knows, but that is really quite unfair. She wants to, she wants... Oh, she wants and she scrapes her fingernails hard against her own fingers to distract herself from how much she maddeningly wants to touch him, kiss him, drive him utterly mad.

She can see the sweat clinging to his face as his breath grows increasingly labored. He's still thrusting into her in slow strokes, but his kiss is more frantic and insistent as he seeks her lips. She likes that, using her tongue to egg him on as much as she can, being rewarded with several throaty moans from him. She can feel them reverberate into her, and she is moaning too, she realizes.

With a groan, he flips her around so that she is straddling him and he is sitting up to hold her against him. The change in position makes her draw a sharp, ragged breath, and then another as he uses his fingers where their bodies are still linked and is thrusting at the same time.

He's trying to coax her along with him, she realizes. She wants to tell him she can't, but her body is already telling her that she can, and wants to as well. Oh, how she wants to, and his kiss is demanding and his fingers are coaxing and his thrusts are quickening, and and and...

Her head falls backwards as she comes, and she can hear him cry out sharply as he does too. He leans against her, and with that they both fall back against the mattress while breathing heavily. She's only dimly aware of his weight on her, pressing her deep into the mattress.

He lifts himself up on his elbows after a while, taking some of the weight off her but his body still pressing against hers. She enjoys that, always enjoys this feeling of physical closeness after they've made love.

"More or less according to plan," he murmurs, lowering his head to kiss her.

How very Charming to have a plan, she thinks, and smiles at him.

"Yes," she agrees. "Untie me?"

He chuckles, but does lift himself up to find the dagger, then cuts her free and puts the dagger back under the pillow. It makes her smile, and then makes her pull him back down for a kiss.

"Are we done now?" he asks softly.

"With the tying up or being overprotective idiots?" she asks, and his eyes twinkle at her.

"Both, I suppose," he says, stealing another kiss as she lets her hands finally wander his skin.

"Are you going to stop being an overprotective idiot?" she asks, and he pauses to look at her.

"No," he says seriously. "I can't stop loving you. I can't stop wanting you. I can't stop thinking your safety more important than my own. I can't, Snow. So I am going to be an overprotective idiot sometimes."

She nods faintly, marveling at the fact that this man, this Prince Charming of hers, loves her just as much as she loves him.

"What about you?" he asks. "Are you doing to stop being an overprotective idiot?"

"No," she says, and he kisses her hard at that before she can say anything else. He knows what that means, after all. He knows she can't stop any more than he can, even if she might be more adept at masking it sometimes. But only sometimes, and thus she will also be an overprotective idiot concerning him now and then.

"Then I guess we're going to both be tied up," he whispers against her lips, a promise just like all the others he's given her. "Forever."

Yes, she thinks, kissing him eagerly. Snow and Charming, forever tied up by their own hearts.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

II

FIN


End file.
